Roche: No Red Sox Deal For Joe Blanton

Joe Blanton throws a pitch against the New York Yankees in Game Four of the 2009 World Series at Citizens Bank Park. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images) Joe Blanton throws a pitch against the New York Yankees in Game Four of the 2009 World Series at Citizens Bank Park. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)

BOSTON (CBS) – A Red Sox source tells WBZ-TV’s Dan Roche that the Red Sox do not have a deal in place to acquire pitcher Joe Blanton from the Philadelphia Phillies. And the source also tells Roche that there’s no reason to believe that a deal will happen.

The story began circulating Tuesday morning only hours after the Phillies surprised the baseball world by agreeing to a 5-year, 120-million dollar deal with free agent lefthander Cliff Lee.

Can the deal happen down the road? Sure.

The 30-year-old Blanton was 9-6 with a 4.82 ERA in 29 games with the Phillies last season. He did go 6-1 with a 3.48 ERA after the All-Star break. Blanton has 17-million dollars and two years left on his contract.

Boston already has a strong starting staff in place with Jon Lester, Clay Buchholz, Josh Beckett, John Lackey, Daisuke Matsuzaka, and Tim Wakefield.